MacroBlitz is a project to inspire and empower people to make observations (i.e. take photos) of aquatic macroinvertebrates and upload those photos to iNaturalist for science and for learning. The learning part is self evident - learn about macros - but what about the science?
The MacroBlitz study design question, or research question if you will, is what kinds of macroinvertebrates do you find when you churn and turn rocks in a stream or jab the vegetation or top layer of sediment with a net in a pond, wetland or lake shore? When people explore their local water body for macros and then share those findings through iNaturalist, they help build a data set that contributes to understanding about aquatic macroinvertebrates. While the MacroBlitz data on iNaturalist make no claims as to completeness or representativeness which limits use for water quality analyses and the like, the observations do document presence which is useful for screening (what's there now) and historical (what was there in the past) data sets.
Understanding aquatic macroinvertebrates is critical as the scientific consensus is that these organisms are under stress due to climate change, habitat loss and other watershed impacts including lawn care practices. All indications are macroinvertebrate abundance is declining. This decline is a concern for biodiversity and ecosystem health as these critters are an important part of larger food webs. As the subtitle of the essay Dude, Where's My Hatch? puts it, the decline of aquatic insects (and other inverts) should bug everyone.
If this decline bugs you, there are things you can do to help protect water bodies, starting with using more natural management practices in your yard, making sure your car doesn't leak oil, and picking up trash so it doesn't get blown or carried into a nearby water body. AND, you can MacroBlitz.
We, the MacroBlitz team, understand that observing aquatic macroinvertebrates is not the same as observing a plant or a butterfly. It takes intention and a smidge of know how to see a damselfly nymph or scud. That said, it is within the capabilities of most everyone reading this article to do exactly that with a few simple tools and instructions recommended by MacroBlitz.
Our goal is not to just find aquatic macroinvertebrates but document them as well for others' information. We have lowered some of the barriers in data management, including meta data and storage, by using iNaturalist. iNaturalist is an online platform for anyone to document their encounters with organisms by uploading geo-located photos or sound recordings. What makes iNaturalist useful in this effort to capture mass quantities of crowd-sourced data about aquatic macroinvertebrates is:
Are you ready to MacroBlitz? Go to a nearby pond or stream. Use a fine net to poke around vegetation and scoop up sediment and plant matter from the bottom. Dump into a tub. What do you see crawling and swimming around? Take photos to document then upload those to iNaturalist. Using the steps of find and identify, photograph and upload, anyone can contribute to this vitally important data set.
The MacroBlitz study design question, or research question if you will, is what kinds of macroinvertebrates do you find when you churn and turn rocks in a stream or jab the vegetation or top layer of sediment with a net in a pond, wetland or lake shore? When people explore their local water body for macros and then share those findings through iNaturalist, they help build a data set that contributes to understanding about aquatic macroinvertebrates. While the MacroBlitz data on iNaturalist make no claims as to completeness or representativeness which limits use for water quality analyses and the like, the observations do document presence which is useful for screening (what's there now) and historical (what was there in the past) data sets.
Understanding aquatic macroinvertebrates is critical as the scientific consensus is that these organisms are under stress due to climate change, habitat loss and other watershed impacts including lawn care practices. All indications are macroinvertebrate abundance is declining. This decline is a concern for biodiversity and ecosystem health as these critters are an important part of larger food webs. As the subtitle of the essay Dude, Where's My Hatch? puts it, the decline of aquatic insects (and other inverts) should bug everyone.
If this decline bugs you, there are things you can do to help protect water bodies, starting with using more natural management practices in your yard, making sure your car doesn't leak oil, and picking up trash so it doesn't get blown or carried into a nearby water body. AND, you can MacroBlitz.
We, the MacroBlitz team, understand that observing aquatic macroinvertebrates is not the same as observing a plant or a butterfly. It takes intention and a smidge of know how to see a damselfly nymph or scud. That said, it is within the capabilities of most everyone reading this article to do exactly that with a few simple tools and instructions recommended by MacroBlitz.
Our goal is not to just find aquatic macroinvertebrates but document them as well for others' information. We have lowered some of the barriers in data management, including meta data and storage, by using iNaturalist. iNaturalist is an online platform for anyone to document their encounters with organisms by uploading geo-located photos or sound recordings. What makes iNaturalist useful in this effort to capture mass quantities of crowd-sourced data about aquatic macroinvertebrates is:
- iNaturalist is international in scope.
- The data is verified through a crowdsourced identification process.
- Viewing, filtering, and exporting large quantities data is relatively easy.
Are you ready to MacroBlitz? Go to a nearby pond or stream. Use a fine net to poke around vegetation and scoop up sediment and plant matter from the bottom. Dump into a tub. What do you see crawling and swimming around? Take photos to document then upload those to iNaturalist. Using the steps of find and identify, photograph and upload, anyone can contribute to this vitally important data set.